Written by

Sam Borden

Journal News columnist

It is goodbye to a New York Giants star for the second straight year, Michael Strahan this time, Tiki Barber a year ago. Two important Giants, two burgeoning broadcasting careers for two players who were talented and skilled and more publicly personable than the average professional athlete.

It feels different this time, though. Feels a little better this time, and not just because the Giants are Super Bowl champions. The main difference between the departures of Barber and Strahan is that there is no bitterness this time, no nagging feeling about the way in which a legendary player walks away from the franchise that made him an attraction.

With Barber, there was at least a hint (if not an overwhelming amount) of irritation over his approach to retirement and the way he conducted himself during his final season. Too often it felt like it was all about Tiki - his final season, his final games, what was going to happen in his life when he stopped carrying a football and started carrying a microphone. We got it - he's well-spoken, educated and could step out of a wind-sprint and go report in Darfur. Good things, all of them, but not necessarily the kind of conversations you want around a team that's trying to win the NFC East.

Strahan, on the other hand, has mostly done this the right way. Is he perfect? He isn't. The holdout during last year's training camp was selfish and misguided, but it was also a personal choice that didn't affect the rest of the team during the season (particularly since he ended it in time to return for Week 1). Strahan did what he thought was right with regard to his own contract situation; his teammates might not have loved him for it, but the code of professional athletes is such that they could at least understand his motivations. Everyone handles their own business in their own way.

Once Strahan showed up and resolved his issues, he was committed. He didn't announce his retirement months ahead of time in the middle of a season, as Barber curiously did in October 2006, and he did his best to lead the defense in the same way he'd done so many times in the past. He did his job and then contemplated his future once the job was over. Now, after considering his options, he says he's had enough.

Understand, winning the Super Bowl increases the goodwill toward Strahan, just as the playoff loss to Philadelphia in Barber's finale added to any negative feelings that were directed toward him. Barber, who retired at age 31, may have left the game while still near his peak, but he still left behind a team that everyone hoped would be better than it ultimately was. Strahan is the one who literally went out on top. The Giants' all-time leader in sacks had one more in the Super Bowl victory over the Patriots to go along with three tackles, two quarterback hurries and a pass deflection in the 17-14 upset.

Throughout the frantic fourth quarter, as the Giants moved closer to shocking previously undefeated New England, Strahan kept walking up and down the sideline telling his teammates, "The final score will be 17-14." He had faith in unproven Eli Manning and wanted everyone else around him to do the same.

"I kept telling them, 'Repeat it,' " Strahan said when the game was finally over. "I was walking up the sidelines saying, 'You say it. Repeat it. You have to believe it.' "

Barber never experienced that as a Giant, never got to feel what it's like to be a champion. He was a fantastic player, and no one can ever say he isn't one of the Giants' greatest running backs. He still didn't get an exit that was even close to the one Strahan got.

Strahan thought about retirement, stuck around and won a title, then departed; Barber announced his retirement during the year, lost in the playoffs, then took shots at some of his former teammates once he was gone - not altogether surprising since he'd never hesitated to criticize Giants players or coaches while he was active.

In 2002, Barber actually ripped Strahan for not accepting a contract offer from the Giants; Barber felt Strahan wanted too much money and was quoted as saying that Strahan was "thinking about himself" instead of the team. One can only imagine what Barber was thinking about four years later, when he turned the Giants' season into his own farewell tour.

Ultimately, both players made lasting impacts on a team and its fans. Barber ran for forever and Strahan was the iron fist, smashing quarterbacks and, less glamorously, plugging up the opposition's running game in a way few others ever have.

One offensive star, one defensive star. Two goodbyes in two consecutive years. It's not hard to see why one feels a little bit better than the other.